Summer's Trauma
by Mistyrivers
Summary: Summer goes through a trauma while Seth is gone.
1. Default Chapter

Summer's Trauma

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Rating: PG-13 I don't think it's going to be too graphic, but there are some adult situations so beware.

Author's note: 1. This is my first OC story so I would appreciate any feedback you might have.

2. Ryan is back from Chino. I don't really explain why or how, but he and Marissa are back together. That's not really part of the story so don't expect me do go into detail about it. This is basically Summer's story.

Summer tossed and turned in her bed as she relived the horrible night from six weeks ago in her nightmares.

"NO! Stop! I don't want to do this!" Summer struggled to break free as Tanner pinned her to the bed.

"Stop fighting it, Summer. You know you want this," Tanner said as he kissed her neck.

"No, I don't! Please don't!" 

Summer sat straight up in her bed, her heart pounding. Why wouldn't that night end? Would it ever end? Her heart was beating so fast and it sounded as if someone was beating on a wall. After a moment she realized that someone was beating on a wall. She pulled on her robe and went to answer the door. She'd told all the servants that she wouldn't really be needing them without her dad home. She felt better being alone. She could be in control and secure. Having people around just made her nervous.

Summer reached the door and peeked out the window. She saw a mass of curly brown hair and took a depth breath. "You can do this, Summer. You can." She opened the door with a glare on her face. "Cohen."

She was mad, Seth thought. That was to be expected. But he could handle this. He loved her and she cared about him. He could fix this. He could make everything right. "I'm so sorry I left, Summer. It was just something I had to do. You understand, right?" She slammed the door in his face. "I guess you don't understand." He banged on the door. "Please talk to me, Summer. Please. I need you to understand." She slowly opened the door.

"What do you want? And why were you banging on the door? Why didn't you ring the doorbell like a normal person?"

"I did. You didn't answer. I want- I want to make up for what I did. I need you to know that I love you, Summer. I never meant to hurt you. You mean everything to me. You- I- I just- I'm so sorry."

"You're sorry?"

"Yes, I am. I'm so, so sorry."

"You're sorry? Well, that makes up for everything."

"Summer-"

"Yeah, that makes up for the hell I went through this summer. That makes up for you not being here. You left me a note! 'Dear Summer, I'm sorry. I've got to go. I can't stay here. Love, Seth.' What the hell was that? Was that supposed to make me feel better? Because it didn't. It just made it worse. It's all your fault. You should have been here. " She sighed. "Just leave. I have nothing to say to you anymore. I don't ever want to see you again. I can't see you again." She closed the door and leaned against it. "I hate you for not being here, Cohen," she whispered to herself. "It wouldn't have happened if you had been here. I wouldn't feel like this if you had been here."

Seth went to the beach with Ryan and Marissa later that day. "She won't even talk to me, guys."

Ryan laughed. "What did you expect, man? You left her with a note? It's not like Summer's known for her subtlety."

"I know, but I- I- I don't know. I sent the note because I wanted her to know that it had nothing to do with her. And I knew if I went and talked to her in person, I would get weak. I would not have been able to leave her. Did she talk about me at all?" He asked Marissa.

"At first, yeah, but she stopped after a while. And then she became all weird and distant. I tried to get her to talk to me, but she wouldn't."

"Did you do something?"

Marissa rolled her eyes. "No, Seth, I didn't."

"I didn't mean anything by it. I just meant- Why would she act distant with you?"

"I don't know. I was kind of messed up at the beginning of the summer. Maybe she just got sick of me not being there for her."

"I don't think that's it, Marissa. She could have been a little bit irritated with you, but honestly, I think it's more about Seth."

"Ryan!"

"Come on, you hurt her. Any girl would be mad at you. And Summer's not just any girl."

"What do you mean?"  
  
"Summer's always had any guy she's ever wanted. I bet she's hardly ever been rejected. Your letter had to sting."

"I didn't reject her."

"I bet that's what she felt, though. You didn't even say good-bye."

Marissa nodded. "Ryan has a point. I know she was hurt and Summer doesn't do well with hurt."

Seth sighed. "I guess."

Ryan slapped him on the back. "Cheer up, man. Tomorrow's the first day of school. You'll see her then. I bet you can talk to her and maybe make it up to her."

Summer was watching television when she heard the doorbell ring. "Not again, Cohen." She glanced out the window and saw Marissa standing there. "Thank, God. Hi, Coop."

"Hey, Summer. What's up?" The two girls went into the living room and sat on the couch.

"Nothing. I've just been watching TV." Marissa nodded.

"Cool. So, listen. I went to the beach with Ryan and Seth today."

"I don't want to talk about Cohen."

"Summer, I understand you pissed at him. And you have ever right to be. I mean, he left you without anything but a letter. You should definitely be mad. But you at least need to talk to him. I mean, I know you love him."

"You don't know anything. And I don't want to talk to Seth, okay?"

"Maybe I don't understand your feelings exactly, but I have been there."

"Marissa, you really need to drop this."

"Summer, I just want to help you. I know that I can."

"No, you can't, okay? You don't know anything about what I went through this summer! Hell, you weren't even sober for most of it." Marissa jumped up.

"You know, Summer, I wasn't here for you like I should have been, but you are acting really strange. You're blaming me for something, but I don't know what. I have no idea what I did to you. This is getting really old really fast. You need to figure out what's wrong and fix it." Marissa walked out of the house and slammed the door.

Summer sat on the couch with tears in her eyes. "God, you're so stupid, Coop. Maybe if you'd have been there you might know what's going on." She thought back to that night again, that horrible night.

"Coop, I thought we were going to a party," Summer said, looking at her drunken friend.

"I've got the party right here, Summer. Have a drink." Marissa handed her the vodka bottle and grinned.

"Huh. I'll see you later, Coop. I'm not into this party." 

Summer still sat on the couch, trying to take a deep breath. "It wasn't Coop's fault. It might have happened even if she had been sober enough to come with you. She's your best friend. You've just got to remember that. You can't screw up your whole life because of this."


	2. Two

Part 2

Summer walked into school the next morning, a fake smile on her face. She just had to get through this. She couldn't let her life be ruined by him. She paled when she saw him standing at the end of the hall. She had to get out of here. She did not want to walk by him. She ducked behind some lockers and waited for him to walk past her. As soon as she felt it had been long enough, she walked out and felt a hand grab her arm. "Let me go," she said, jerking her arm back. "Tanner."

"Glad you remember, Summer. It hurt my feelings when you didn't return my calls this summer. However, I'm willing to forgive you and give you another chance."

"N-no. I want you to leave me alone."

"That's not nice. Didn't you have fun?"

"No, I didn't. You know I didn't."

"Yeah, well, you would have if you hadn't put up such a fight. But hey, we can try again."

"Get away from me. I want you to leave me alone."

"Fine, I don't need this. But remember to keep you mouth shut. I don't need the trouble and you know as well as I do that no one would be leave you anyway." He sauntered away and Summer walked the opposite way, wanting to put as much distance between the two of them as possible. She turned a corner, noticing the person coming in the other direction. The two of them crashed into each other.

"Whoa, sorry," she said, trying to leave quickly.

"Oh, it's okay. Summer?"

"Ryan, hi."

"Uh, hey. It's been awhile since we've seen each other. How are you doing?"

"All right, I guess."

"So, uh listen. I feel weird talking to you about this, but Seth really misses you. He's miserable."

"Well, good. After what he did to me-"

"Which was a jerk move, but he's sorry. Can you at least talk to him?"

"No, I can't."

"Summer, please. He needs-"

"He needs? What I about me? What about what I need?"

"Aren't you being a little selfish?"

"Yeah, well, that's me. Summer Roberts: selfish, spoiled and snobby."

"You sound proud of that."

"I am. I'm too good for Seth Cohen."

"I guess that's it then."

"I guess it is." The two stalk away from each other.

Ryan sat down next to Seth in the lunch room. He was dreading talking to him, but he knew that he had to. Summer was being a complete bitch about the whole situation and Seth need to know that he should just forget about it. "Hey, man."

"Hey. So, listen. I've got a plan to get Summer back. It's a little bit wacky, but I think it'll work."

"Look, you've gotta forget about her."

"What? Why?"

"I talked to her this morning. She's really mad and I don't think she's going to give in."

"I don't care. I want her and I'm not going to give up. We belong together." Ryan sighed deeply.

"Fine," he said, knowing that when Seth got like this, there was no hope for him to act sensibly.

"Summer?" Marissa stood behind her friend in the lunch line.

"Oh, hi."

"So, uh, listen. I just wanted to apologize for yesterday."

"No, it was my fault. I don't know what I was thinking."

"Hey, it's okay. We both messed up, we're both sorry."

"Right."

"You want to eat lunch with me?"

"Well, is Seth-"

"Come on, please. I'm friends with both you and Ryan. And Ryan comes with Seth. Don't make me choose."

"Oh, fine. But if he tries to talk me into-"

"I'll stop him, I promise. It'll be fine."

"Fine." Summer followed Marissa and sat down across from Seth. "Ryan, Cohen."

"Hi, Summer." Seth grinned at her, but she looked away.

"So, how's the first day of school going for everyone?" Marissa asked.

"It's school." Ryan declared.

Summer giggled and added her own statement. "Yeah, it's school. Not exactly the most fun in the universe." She glanced up and saw Tanner walking towards the table. She looked down and prayed he would just walk by. However, he stopped at the table.

"Hello, everyone."

"Hi, Tanner." Ryan, Seth, and Marissa looked at each other in confusion. Tanner Harrington didn't usually lower himself to talk to them.

"So, I heard you sailed to Tahiti this summer," Tanner said to Seth.

"Yeah, I did."

"Well, I hope you had fun. Your girlfriend and I certainly did." He grinned at Summer and walked away. The three of them looked at her.

"Summer?" Marissa asked, confused.

"You slept with him, Summer?" Seth looked heartbroken.

"I-I gotta go." She ran away from the table, out of the lunch room, and into the bathroom where she let the tears fall. The way Seth had looked at her, that's what she wanted to avoid. He looked at her like she was trash. "I hate this."

After school, Summer heard the doorbell ring and went to answer the door. She was surprised to see Seth standing in front of her.

"Hi, can we talk?" He asked.

"Yeah, sure. Come in." Seth started pacing around the room.

"So, I thought you were mad at me and I could make it up to you, but that's not it, is it? You- You don't want to be with me anymore. You couldn't wait to tell me before you were with someone else. Hell, you couldn't even wait for me during the summer."

"I was supposed to wait for you?" She sat down on the couch.

"I- I- I don't know. But you could have told me about Tanner. Tanner? I can't believe it. I thought that you had better taste than that." Summer shook her head.

"You don't know anything, Seth. You weren't here."

"Yeah, I wasn't here so I don't know what happened. So tell me. Did you sleep with him?"

"No, I didn't."

"You didn't?" Seth asked, perplexed. "But why did you run away at lunch? And what was he talking about? What did he mean?" Summer started to cry.

"I- I didn't. I swear I didn't."

"Summer, what's wrong? Tell me." He went to hug her, but she shrank away from him.

"No, don't touch me. I don't want anyone to touch me."

"Summer?"

"I didn't want to. I said no." Seth started to look horrified.

"What? What happened?" Summer continued to cry.

"I said no, but he wouldn't stop. He just kept- I couldn't stop him. But I tried. I tried and tried." She cried harder as Seth watched her helplessly, knowing that a lot more had changed during his trip away than he had thought. And there was nothing he could do to help her.


	3. Three

Part 3

Seth watched Summer as she slept. He had been there for hours, but he couldn't leave her. Not until she woke up and he could make sure that she was okay. Well, as okay as possible in the god awful situation. He had to talk to her and make it better for her.

Summer stretched as she sat up on the couch. "Oh, God."

Seth walked over to her, but didn't touch her. "Hey."

"Hi, what are you doing here?"

"After what you said, how could you think that I'd leave without talking to you?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Summer, I just- I need you to explain what happened."

"Seth-."

"Please."

"I said no. I don't want to, but he wouldn't stop, okay? I don't want to say anything else."

"Okay." He paused. "Has he hassled you or anything since it happened?"

"Not really."

"What does the mean?"

"He called a few times after, but I guess he got the message when I didn't call him. But yesterday at school, he tried to talk to me again."

"You want me to make him stop?"

"How would you do that?" Seth pumped his fists.

"With these babies, of course." Summer smirked.

"Right. I doubt he'd be afraid, but thanks."

"No problem. You know, I guess I'd better be going."

"Seth, will you stay? Please? I don't want to be alone."

"Okay, of course. Sure. If you need me to." Summer smiled at him, happy that there was someone here she actually trusted. She curled into a little ball and fell asleep almost immediately. Seth found a blanket, covering her with it. He couldn't believe that someone had done this to her. His sweet beautiful Summer was changed forever. And there was not a single thing that he could do to fix it. He couldn't make it better and that thought almost killed him. He had loved her for so long and there was nothing he could do to change this for her.

Summer woke up early the next morning, like she always did. She was surprised to find herself lying on the couch. She was confused for a few seconds until she saw Seth sleeping in a chair next to her. She remembered asking Seth to stay with her. She was glad he did and hoped she didn't have any nightmares that scared him. It felt good that he knew what happened. At least she wasn't all alone anymore. She glanced at the clock and saw that Seth needed to get up. She shook his arm. "Seth." He smiled sleepily at her.

"Hi, Summer."

"Hi. So, you probably need to get home to change." He looked at his watch.

"Oh, man. I wanted to get home before my parents woke up."

"They don't know you're here?"

"No, I forgot to call. I'd better go. I'll see you at school."

"Uh, no. I think I'm going to stay home today. I just can't deal with him." Seth nodded.

"All right. Um, you know, I was thinking that maybe you should to somebody about this."

"No, I can't talk to Marissa or any of my friends about this. They wouldn't understand."

"Okay, I get that. But I wasn't even talking about your friends. I was thinking maybe a counselor or somebody."

"No way."

"Summer-"

"Just drop it, Seth. I don't want to tell anyone. And you had better not say anything to anyone either."

"I won't."

"You promise?"

"I promise. I don't think it's the smartest idea, but I won't if you don't want me to."

"Okay, good. Thank you. For staying here last night, I mean."

"Your welcome."

"Um, listen. I'm glad you stayed, but I have to say, this doesn't mean that we are-"

"Summer, don't worry. I understand. You probably aren't ready for that."

"All right."

"So, I'm gonna go. I'll see you."

"Good bye."

Seth walked into his house, cutting through the kitchen and hoping against hope that his parents were still asleep. He had absolutely no luck. His parents were sitting at the kitchen table. "Hello."

"Seth, where the hell were you last night?" Sandy stood up and walked closer to his son.

"I- I was helping a friend out."

"And it didn't occur to you to call?"

"No, she was in trouble. I couldn't leave her."

"Who was it? Are they okay?"

"I can't tell. She made me promise."

"You can't tell?" Kirsten asked, frowning.

"No, I can't."

"Well, that isn't good enough."

"Kirsten-"

"No, Sandy. He takes off to Tahiti for the summer and says nothing to us for months. And now he's staying out all night without calling. I'm not putting up with it any longer. Seth, you're grounded."

"Mom-"

"I don't want to hear it. You are to come home as soon as school lets out. Now go get ready for school."

Seth and Ryan walked the halls together. Ryan didn't say anything about Seth's not coming and Seth was extremely grateful for that. He was dying to tell someone about Summer, but he knew that he would kill him if he did. Summer needed to be able to trust him. He looked up and saw Tanner standing at the end of the hall. Seth's blood boiled and he started walking toward him almost without knowing what he was doing. He grabbed Tanner's arm.

"Cohen, what the hell do you think you're doing?" He asked, yanking his arm away.

"I know what you did to her."

"Oh, this is about Summer. Look, I'm sorry she cheated on you, but that happens."

"She didn't cheat on me. You forced her-"

"Is that what she told you? She's lying, man. Trying to make excuses for what she did." Seth turned red and went to hit Tanner, but Tanner blocked his punch and hit him in the eye. Seth fell to the ground and Tanner kicked him. "Don't go spreading that story around. I wouldn't want to have to hurt you again." Tanner walked away.

Seth and Ryan walked towards their house. Ryan looked over at Seth. "You okay, man?"

"Uh-huh. I just I need to go over to Summer's and make sure she's okay."

"She slept with someone else; why did you care?"

"Look, you don't know what you're talking about. Just drop it."

"Fine, but you're parents are going to flip if you try to leave."

"I know." The two boys walked inside and saw Sandy and Kirsten. Seth tried to avoid looking at them, but they saw his black eye.

"Oh my God, Seth. What happened?" Kirsten tried touch his face, but he shrugged her off.

"Nothing, okay? I'm going to my room." He walked away and the two adults looked at Ryan.

"So, what happened?"

Summer sat staring in front of the television, not really watching it. She wondered if Seth would come by today. He hadn't said anything about it, but she hoped he would. It was strange, but she didn't made him hanging around, despite the fact that she really wanted to be alone. He made her feel safe.

Kirsten knocked on Seth's door and walked into his room. He was staring at the ceiling. "Hi, Seth."

"Hi, Mom."

"Ryan told me how you got that black eye." Seth sat up.

"Ryan doesn't know anything."

"I know it hurts that Summer slept with someone else, but-"

"She didn't leave with someone else."

"Honey-"

"Mom, she told me what happened. And I'd tell you if I could, but I can't. She made me promise not to."

"What do you mean?"

"Mom-"

"I want to help you. And I want to help Summer." Seth sighed.

"She's going to be so mad at me."

"Maybe. But maybe I can help her."

"She didn't sleep with him, he- he forced her. He made her do it." Kirsten turned white.

"He raped her?" Seth nodded, as he felt the tears coming.

"Yeah, Mom. She's so upset." Kirsten hugged him, wondering how she was going to help her son and Summer.


End file.
